Boulder at the Crossroads
Published in the Boulder Daily Camera, 10/30/19
Fifty years ago, Boulder was a quiet college town run by Republicans. Then, a cultural earthquake brought on by, I believe, John Denver and Mork and Mindy rocked our fair city transforming Boulder into the liberal no-growth bastion it is today. For those of us who showed up around then, it seems that the ideology and politics driving Boulder today are pretty much the same as they were back in 1975.
The good news is that this era allowed Boulder to become an environmentally stunning, culturally chic enclave that is a magnet for many well-educated technically savvy Americans.
The bad news is that the path Boulder took to get here may be unsustainable. The people who need to live here to make Boulder work can't afford to. The people we want to live here to create a culturally diverse community… well, they can't either.
The big problem – one that many towns would love to have – is that too many wealthy people want to live in Boulder. Adding to our woes, the law of supply and demand applies here just like it does in San Francisco or Seattle. As long as we choose to severely restrict new housing supply in Boulder, high demand for housing will ensure sky-high prices that all-but-stop low and middle-income families from moving here.
Our current City Council keeps pretending that we can keep what we have while still maintaining our middle class roots by tweaking zoning rules and demonizing developers into building housing at a loss. The past decade has made clear that this won't work. If we go forward with the same no-growth/change-nothing policies that are making Boulder a rich enclave, it will continue to become more so.
Continuing current no-growth/change-nothing policies has another predictable consequence – the voters in Boulder will continue to become wealthier and more protective of what makes Boulder a delightful home for those of us who can afford it. While that may send chills up some Boulderites' spines, it shouldn't. Rich liberals need to live somewhere, right? Why not Boulder?
But, if we really want to keep a thriving and diverse middle class in our midst, we need to make big changes to our land use polices. We need a lot more places for people to live. There is no other way.
Given our love of the open space surrounding Boulder, the only way to give people more places to live is greater housing density – more people per square mile. The laws of physics dictate that this can only be accomplished by allowing taller buildings, smaller and more tightly packed dwellings, and building now – not later – on land that Boulder has designated for eventual development.
With more density comes predictable consequences, one of which being that Boulder will transform from a suburban town into an urban center. For perspective, Denver city planners are designing for about double the current population density of Boulder. By choosing to increase our population density, we could easily end up there in 50 years.
It's easy to imagine how finding space for more people over the next few decades would transform Boulder into an urban environment surrounded by parks and open space. Boulder would become more walkable with a more vibrant streetscape and all the goodies – think restaurants, shops, and culture – that come with city life. Given the anticipated growth of the rest of the Front Range, a denser Boulder would be destined to become an urban center in the midst of the suburban sprawl that is happening around us today.
This election is an opportunity for Boulderites to step back from the daily grind of the small-ball politics we've been playing and decide what we want Boulder to be in 50 years. What kind of town do we want to build for our children and grandchildren?
If we like Boulder the way it is, we should cancel our existential crisis over how to have our cake and eat it, too and admit to ourselves that what we really want Boulder to be is a suburban enclave for well-off liberals and college students. There is nothing wrong with that.
But, if we want the diversity of a more urban environment, we have to vote for the changes that are needed to make it possible, and we need to do it now.
Either way, we should stop pretending that we can have a diverse community where the people who work here can live without some radical changes to our thinking.
Fifty years ago, Boulder was a quiet college town run by Republicans. Then, a cultural earthquake brought on by, I believe, John Denver and Mork and Mindy rocked our fair city transforming Boulder into the liberal no-growth bastion it is today. For those of us who showed up around then, it seems that the ideology and politics driving Boulder today are pretty much the same as they were back in 1975.
The good news is that this era allowed Boulder to become an environmentally stunning, culturally chic enclave that is a magnet for many well-educated technically savvy Americans.
The bad news is that the path Boulder took to get here may be unsustainable. The people who need to live here to make Boulder work can't afford to. The people we want to live here to create a culturally diverse community… well, they can't either.
The big problem – one that many towns would love to have – is that too many wealthy people want to live in Boulder. Adding to our woes, the law of supply and demand applies here just like it does in San Francisco or Seattle. As long as we choose to severely restrict new housing supply in Boulder, high demand for housing will ensure sky-high prices that all-but-stop low and middle-income families from moving here.
Our current City Council keeps pretending that we can keep what we have while still maintaining our middle class roots by tweaking zoning rules and demonizing developers into building housing at a loss. The past decade has made clear that this won't work. If we go forward with the same no-growth/change-nothing policies that are making Boulder a rich enclave, it will continue to become more so.
Continuing current no-growth/change-nothing policies has another predictable consequence – the voters in Boulder will continue to become wealthier and more protective of what makes Boulder a delightful home for those of us who can afford it. While that may send chills up some Boulderites' spines, it shouldn't. Rich liberals need to live somewhere, right? Why not Boulder?
But, if we really want to keep a thriving and diverse middle class in our midst, we need to make big changes to our land use polices. We need a lot more places for people to live. There is no other way.
Given our love of the open space surrounding Boulder, the only way to give people more places to live is greater housing density – more people per square mile. The laws of physics dictate that this can only be accomplished by allowing taller buildings, smaller and more tightly packed dwellings, and building now – not later – on land that Boulder has designated for eventual development.
With more density comes predictable consequences, one of which being that Boulder will transform from a suburban town into an urban center. For perspective, Denver city planners are designing for about double the current population density of Boulder. By choosing to increase our population density, we could easily end up there in 50 years.
It's easy to imagine how finding space for more people over the next few decades would transform Boulder into an urban environment surrounded by parks and open space. Boulder would become more walkable with a more vibrant streetscape and all the goodies – think restaurants, shops, and culture – that come with city life. Given the anticipated growth of the rest of the Front Range, a denser Boulder would be destined to become an urban center in the midst of the suburban sprawl that is happening around us today.
This election is an opportunity for Boulderites to step back from the daily grind of the small-ball politics we've been playing and decide what we want Boulder to be in 50 years. What kind of town do we want to build for our children and grandchildren?
If we like Boulder the way it is, we should cancel our existential crisis over how to have our cake and eat it, too and admit to ourselves that what we really want Boulder to be is a suburban enclave for well-off liberals and college students. There is nothing wrong with that.
But, if we want the diversity of a more urban environment, we have to vote for the changes that are needed to make it possible, and we need to do it now.
Either way, we should stop pretending that we can have a diverse community where the people who work here can live without some radical changes to our thinking.
